Thai Trip: Updated with finalized itinerary

[just]

Thanks to everyone who helped with my crisis of planning confidence!

Our finalized itinerary is below but I have a few questions if anyone isn't bored of me yet!

- Excepting the Grand Palace where I know things are really strict, In Temples, can I get away with skirts to my ankles, and a shawl completely wrapped around my tank top to cover upper arms and shoulders and any cleavage (not just draped)? If not, I'll just buy a longer sleeved top to keep in my bag.

- We're leaving at 2am on a Saturday morning. Do people usually get a hotel for the night before to shower before leaving for the airport, hope to be able to use hotel swim/gym/spa facilities in the evening, or power through?

- We'll be leaving at 2am in the morning after 11/23 which is Loy Krathong. Is there a good way of observing the festivities? Do we need to build in extra time for airport runs at 11/12pm? Someone suggested if we do get a hotel room for that night we're leaving to get one on the river so that we can watch the festivities.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate everything - promise I'll be a good forum member and report back and share pics!


Day 1 (arrive 7am): Bangkok (staying Shanghai Mansion Hotel)
Day 2: Bangkok
Day 3: Bangkok
Day 4: Bangkok
(1 day to Ayutthaya, 1 halfday/evening food tour)

Day 5: (arrive 10am): Chiang Mai (staying Villa Sirilanna)
Day 6: Chiang Mai
Day 7: Chiang Mai
Day 8: Chiang Mai
(1 day to Doi Inthanon, 1 day cooking class)

Day 9: (arrive to Krabi 11am) Railay (staying Avatar Railay)
Day 10: Railay
Day 11: Railay
Day 12: Leave for Bangkok (flight from Krabi 3pm)

Day 12: Bangkok (no hotel booked yet)
Day 13: Bangkok
Leaving at 2am on Day 14

[kpol]

Sounds like you're set to have a great time! As to your questions, I wore a maxi dress and brought a small cardigan to the temples in Bangkok and had no problems. I would think the shawl worn as you described would be fine. Do you have Priority Pass or any access to an airport lounge? If you do, you can shower and relax there before your flights. Day passes aren't too expensive either if you want to purchase that. It's a long flight and I'd hate to be out all day and not shower before leaving.

[mryrcn]

I wore a maxi dress and carried a scarf to cover myself. You will also want to wear a hat, obviously not inside the temples and wear flip flops. Also pack a pair of socks. In Chiang Mai we visited a temple that we had to walk outside a lot on the tile and my feet were getting burned on the bottom. I wish I had known to bring socks.

Did you hire a tour guide? What cooking class? And yay!

[wildrice]

Your outfit sounds fine. I think I mostly wore t-shirts that had long-ish sleeves, and I was also fine. Make sure you wear shoes you can remove and replace easily. You will be taking them on and off constantly so things with buckles or hard to work straps are annoying.

You are probably already aware of this, but Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai is definitely worth the time and money (I think it's pretty reasonable, anyway). If you enjoy animals at all, you'll love seeing the elephants in their sanctuary and the trip itself was really interesting, beautiful, and fun.

As far as flying out, be aware that they will not let you check in any earlier than 3 hours before your flight. So if you leave at 2am, you can't get there before 11. We learned this the hard way when we expected to be able to kill time in the lounge. We still had lounge time, but would have best spent our time somewhere else before arriving at the airport! That said, personally I'd probably just power through if your flight leaves at 2am, provided you are able to stow your luggage somewhere (usually hotels are good about hanging onto it after checkout). I probably would not want to spend money on a hotel that you had to leave by 11pm, I would be unlikely to get any sleep!

[mryrcn]

wildrice, - Elephant Nature Park is amazing! My husband was iffy about it and there was a time at the park that it was he and an elephant alone in the river together. He looked like a small child filled with happiness. It's a moment that I will never forget.

We had a super early flight out and it was nice to nap and have a shower beforehand and our hotel was cheap so I didn't mind spending the money.

[wildrice]

Jul 30, 2018 11:29:59 GMT -5 mryrcn said:

wildrice , - Elephant Nature Park is amazing! My husband was iffy about it and there was a time at the park that it was he and an elephant alone in the river together. He looked like a small child filled with happiness. It's a moment that I will never forget.

We had a super early flight out and it was nice to nap and have a shower beforehand and our hotel was cheap so I didn't mind spending the money.

It was seriously one my favorite experiences I have ever had! I'm so glad you guys went, too. I feel like it's a "can't miss" activity, unless you really don't like animals or something. We are both animal lovers so it was so wonderful.

[neonpink]

I was just in Bangkok and at some of the temples my skirt didn’t meet their “requirements” and they wanted to charge a lot for me to buy one. Instead I rented them for much cheaper acros. The palace is one place I rented one in Bangkok.

It’s the hottest / most humid place I’ve ever traveled. I ended up wearing a skirt with bike shorts underneath.

[neonpink]

Also I stayed at the Sofitel in Sukhumvit. It was such a luxurious experience and the neighborhood cool. There is a neat mall nearby that every floor is a different city. Rome, London, Tokyo etc it was super cool.

[wise_rita]

Jul 30, 2018 11:24:33 GMT -5 wildrice said:

As far as flying out, be aware that they will not let you check in any earlier than 3 hours before your flight. So if you leave at 2am, you can't get there before 11. We learned this the hard way when we expected to be able to kill time in the lounge. We still had lounge time, but would have best spent our time somewhere else before arriving at the airport! That said, personally I'd probably just power through if your flight leaves at 2am, provided you are able to stow your luggage somewhere (usually hotels are good about hanging onto it after checkout). I probably would not want to spend money on a hotel that you had to leave by 11pm, I would be unlikely to get any sleep!

Is this airline/airport specific?

I was expecting not to be able to check in crazy early once, but was pleasantly surprised we could.  I forget if we checked in luggage but probably not.

This was in Manila on Singapore Airways. 

[wildrice]

Aug 11, 2018 18:36:37 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

Jul 30, 2018 11:24:33 GMT -5 wildrice said:

As far as flying out, be aware that they will not let you check in any earlier than 3 hours before your flight. So if you leave at 2am, you can't get there before 11. We learned this the hard way when we expected to be able to kill time in the lounge. We still had lounge time, but would have best spent our time somewhere else before arriving at the airport! That said, personally I'd probably just power through if your flight leaves at 2am, provided you are able to stow your luggage somewhere (usually hotels are good about hanging onto it after checkout). I probably would not want to spend money on a hotel that you had to leave by 11pm, I would be unlikely to get any sleep!

Is this airline/airport specific?

I was expecting not to be able to check in crazy early once, but was pleasantly surprised we could.  I forget if we checked in luggage but probably not.

This was in Manila on Singapore Airways. 

I have no idea, but it was my experience in Bangkok so I wouldn't recommend going early there. IIRC it was all airlines but I could be mistaken.

[keweenawlove]

Aug 11, 2018 21:08:06 GMT -5 wildrice said:

Aug 11, 2018 18:36:37 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

Is this airline/airport specific?

I was expecting not to be able to check in crazy early once, but was pleasantly surprised we could.  I forget if we checked in luggage but probably not.

This was in Manila on Singapore Airways. 

I have no idea, but it was my experience in Bangkok so I wouldn't recommend going early there. IIRC it was all airlines but I could be mistaken.

We had the same thing happen in Bangkok on Asiana. The check in counter was completely closed until 3 hours before the flight. We were checked in online before then but had to check bags so we had to wait for the counter to open. We had a same thing happen with Delta out of Santiago and Lima. It always seems to be when there's only one flight out a day for that airline. 

[just]

Aug 13, 2018 11:19:37 GMT -5 keweenawlove said:

Aug 11, 2018 21:08:06 GMT -5 wildrice said:

I have no idea, but it was my experience in Bangkok so I wouldn't recommend going early there. IIRC it was all airlines but I could be mistaken.

We had the same thing happen in Bangkok on Asiana. The check in counter was completely closed until 3 hours before the flight. We were checked in online before then but had to check bags so we had to wait for the counter to open. We had a same thing happen with Delta out of Santiago and Lima. It always seems to be when there's only one flight out a day for that airline. 

So I've experienced this in the past and it's usually either for security reasons, or just no-one manning the desk until 3 hours before.

But we did decide not to book a hotel room for the Friday night. Our flight is at 1am, and it's the night of Loy Krathong so if we hang out by the river and grab some dinner, and get to the airport around 9:30pm, we can easily check in and use the lounge for a shower before the flight.